Process of treating fibrous materials.



G. E. FERGUSON.

PROCESS OF TREATING FIBROUS MATERIALS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. I913. RENEWED OCT. 27. 1917.

1,268,446, Patented June 4, 1918.

. In carrying out this process,

ra a J FFTQ GEORGE E. FERGUSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM E. SILVERTHORNE,

' OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF TREATING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

racaaae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June a, 918.

Application filed April 9, 1913, Serial No. 759,930. Renewed October 27, 1917. Serial No. 198,878.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, GEORGE E. FERGUSON, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Fibrous Materials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process or method forrendering fibrous or porous materials impervious to moisture.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved process by the use of which fibrous or porous materials may be made more thoroughly proof against absorption and penetration than heretofore.

A further object is to provide an improved process by the use of which fibrous or porous materials may be impregnated with a suitable non-porous and moisture repellent element.

A further object is to provide a process as above, wherein a higher degree of impregnation by the moisture repellent element, than heretofore, may be attained, so that the moisture repellent element will appear mostly within the body of the treated material rather than upon the surface thereof.

A further object is to provide a process by the use of which the fiber, of such materials as cardboard, paper, parchment, or

other carbonaceous products, may be wh lly or partially destroyed for reducing the absorptive quality to a total or partial extent; and further, to arrange the steps of the process, so that the shape and rigidity, lost by any degree of destruction of the fiber may be maintained by the non-porous and moisture repellent element simultaneously applied in its stead.

A further object is to provide a process by the use of which articles of paper, cardboard, or other carbonaceous fibrous material, manufactured into such shapes as milk bottles and the like, may becasily and effectively treated; and wherein the joints and lappings which may inevitablyoccur in such articles, will be so aflccted as to practically disappear and leave the structure a homogeneous mass, apparently without seams or other crevices into which moisture may seep.

the material,

such as paper, cardboard, or other fibrous or porous material as above described, 1s, first, without previous treatment submergcfi in a suitable liquid; the temperature of the liquid is then raised to a degree to partially or wholly destroy the fibers of the submerged the surrounding air is then raised, if desired,

somewhat above atmospheric pressure so as to assist in forcing the submerging liquid into the vacated interstices of the submerged material. The material is withdrawn from the liquid while the liquid is yet sufiiciently hot to have only a negligible surface tension for the material. The material is then allowed to cool at atmospheric temperature and pressure.

Suitable time is, of course, allowed for each of the steps referred to, and the result is that the product, when cooled, shows little or none of the material into which it has been submerged, upon its surface.

In order to moreclearly understand the apparatus necessary for' carrying out this process, a drawing is attached hereto, Figure 1 of which diagrammatically illustrates the necessary vat, device for heating the contents thereof, and mechanism for lowering and raising the air pressure therein;

Fig. 2 illustrates a transverse, vertical, sectional view through a receptacle made of paper, the view being taken before subjection of the receptacle to the process herein character H indicates an air compressor for raising the pressure within the vat L; The vat L is provided with a suitable sealing cover or door 1 and may be fitted with a thermometer 2 and a pressure'gage 3. I

A heater, such as a Bunsen burner 4, may

be arranged beneath the vat L for heating the same, gas being fed to said burner through a suitable pipe P controlled by the valve 4;".

The suction pump G is connected to the upper portion of the vat L, above the level of the impregnating liquid contained within said vat, by a suitable pipe, and this pipe may be provided with tanks 5 and 6 intermediate its length as follows:

From the vat L a pipe 7 leads to the bottom of tank 6. A check valve 8 is provided in said pipe 7 to prevent return of any air into the vat, after being once withdrawn. From the top of the tank 6 a pipe 9 leads through the top of tank 5 and downwardly Within said tank 5 to a point near the lower end thereof. This pipe 9 is preferably provided with a relief valve 10 whereby the suction from the pump G may draw air fromthe atmosphere rather than from the vat L when desired. From the top of tank 5 a pi e 11 leads directly to the suction pump Beyond the pump G a tank 12- is arranged, said tank 12 being connected with the pump by pipe 13 and serving to contain a liquid through which the exhaust from the pump is expelled, a pipe, 14 being connected to the upper end of the tank 12 to serve as an exhaust conduit. A short length of pipe 15 is connected between the pipe 14 and the pipe 11, and this pipe 15 is provided with a governor valve 16, the purpose of which is to maintain a uniform suction within the pipes 11, 9' and 7 andwithin the vat L according to the'ad ustment of the valve 16 as will be readily understood.

By these means air sucked up by the pump G will travel along pipe 7, upwardly through the tank 6, through the pipe 9, through the liquid, preferably oil, as 5, in

the lower portion of the tank 5, upwardly through the tank 5, through pipe 11, through the suction pump, and will be discharged through the tank 12.

The tank 6 also serves as an expansion tank and also to collect any of the oil 5 which may be forced out of the tank 5 due to back pressure, as when the vacuum is relieved, and prevent such oil from flowing into the vatL in case the check valve 8 should fail.

The tank 5 also serves as an expansion tank, and the, liquid as 5, serves to purify the passing air and to condense and accumulate any of'the liquid contents from the V3191.

L which may enter said tank in a gaseous or vaporized state.

The liquid, as 12 within the tank 12 serves. to further wash and purify the air before being discharged into the atmos-:

phere. These tanks also serve as a means for maintaining a uniform vacuum pressure in the system,

in that they represent an appreciable amount of space within which the air may vary in pressure to a greater or less degree without materially affecting the pressure within the vat L.

The air compressor H is connected to the .top of the vat L by a pipe 16, said pipe to feed a proper mixture of combustible ma- 1 terial to the burner 4.

The liquid as 20 employed in connection ,with this process within the vat L is preferably awaxy materiah such as paraffin or some composition of paraflin or the like, heated until liquefied, but not materially further until after the material to be treated is submerged therein. The liquid employed may be described simply as a liquefied solid, as this term carries the suggestion that when not heated the liquid will become a solid so as to lend rigidity to the treated material.

With the material to be treated submerged within the liquid, atmospheric air is of course effectively excluded from contact with any portion of the material. A small quan-' tity of air will, of course, however, be retained within the interstices and pores of the submerged material. V

When the temperature of the liquid is raised to the point of 'carbonizing the submerged material, the air and moisture locked up in the interstices of the material imme diately begins to withdraw and might be seen to rise to the surface in the form of innumerable bubbles from all parts of the submerged material; .The higher the temperature of the submerging liquid, the more completely will the air and moisture be driven ofi, and the more completely will the submerged material become carbonized, and

. the greater will be the degree of penetration by the submerging liquid.

Maximum penetration is desirable, but total carbonization for bringing about such a result is, of course, undesirable. It is preferable, therefore, to reduce the air pressure within the vat during the time when the submerging liquid is being heated and while it is at,its greatest heat, so as to assist in withdrawing the air and moisture from the pores of the submerged material, and thereby accomplish by agiven degree of heat what would otherwise be accomplished only .by a relatively greater degree of heat and consequent objectionable carbonizing.

In carrying out this process it is consequently intended that the degree of heat applied shall be only such as will produce carbonization to an unobjectionable. extent.

After the material has been subject to the desired heat and reduced pressure asabove described, until bubbles cease to rise, the pressure within the "at is then raised, by closing valve 10 and opening valve 17. The increased pressure will serve to force, or push, the still very thin liquid into the more minute and inaccessible interstices.

The treating material'is withdrawn from the vat while the liquid is yet at its maximum temperature, that is, when it has minimum surface tension upon the treated material. In this way when the finished material is cooled to ordinary atmospheric temperature it is not noticeably coated with a deposit of the submerging liquid, now a solid.

The treated material may be employed in the manufacture of Various articles which are to be used in the presence of moisture. In fact, the articles may have been already fashioned before being subjected to this process as has been hereinbefore suggested. In either event, the finished article may be used with perfect satisfaction for any length of time even in immersed condition, without losing itsshape, and without absorbing any of the liquid within which it is immersed. In use, even the temperature of the immersing liquid, if such there be, or of the surrounding atmosphere when the article is not immersed, may be raised and lowered within wide limits without afiecting the article to an objectionable extent.

When the material, subjected to the maximum temperature of the liquid within the vat L, and a certain proportion of the fiber thereof becomes carbonized or destroyed, this portion of the fiber is immediately replaced by the submerging liquid, which liquid, when the article is wlthdrawn, becomes a solid, and being integral with all other like solids with which the material is now impregnated, transforms the material, particularly the stratas, or layers thereof which may have existed before subjection to treatment, into a single homogeneous mass.

In the treatment of articles already fashioned from paper and the like, such for instance, as the container illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, any joints as 21 of lappings as 22 of the paper or the like, incident to the formation of the articles. practically lose their identity in the greater or less destruction of the fiber of the material. The result is that the lapping or joint portions are in effect welded together into a homogeneous mass, as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the seams and joints being practically incapable of separation.

The process is simple and inexpensive, and results not in a simple coated article, but in a practically new article of manufacture. The original fibrous and absorbent structure is transformed into a practically non-fibrous and non-absorbent article.

It is intended that all matter contained in during treatment, is

the above description, and shown in the accompanying drawing, shall be interpreted ,as illustrative only, and not in a limiting sense, and that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention which may be said to fall within the language of said claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of treating fibrous substances which consists of, first, submerging the substance in a liquid, raising the temperature of the liquid to a degree to partly destroy the fibers of the substance while the substance is submerged, and causing the submerging liquid to form a substitute for the destroyed fibers.

2. The process of treating fibrous substances which consists of, first, submerging the substance in a liquid, withdrawing at least a ortion of the air, beyond normal penetration of the liquid, from the interstices of the fibrous material, raising the temperature of the submerging liquid to -partly destroy the fibers of the substance,

and applying pressure to the submerging stices vacated of air.

3. The process of treating fibrous substances for rendering said substances moisture proof which consists of, first, submerg-' ing the substancein a liquefied moisture rep'ellent solid, withdrawing at least a portion of the air, beyond normal penetration of the liquid, from the interstices of the fibrous substance, raising the temperature of the submerging liquid to increase its fluidity and to partly destroy the fibers of the substance, forcing a'portion of the fluid under pressure into the interstices of the substance, withdrawing the substance from the liquid while the liquid is yet heated, and allowing the substance to cool to solidify the liquid to form a substitute for the destroyed portion of the fibers of the substance.

4. The herein described process of treating carbonaceous fibrous substances, which consists in first submerging the substance in a liquid, withdrawing at least a portion of the air beyond normal penetration of the liquid, from the interstices of the material, raising the temperature of the submerging liquid to the point of carbonizing the fibers of the substance, and subsequently separating said substance from the submerging liquid.

5. The herein described process of treating carbonaceous fibrous substances which consists in first submerging the substance in a liquid, withdrawing at least a portion of the air beyond normal penetration of the liquid,

from the interstices of the material, raising substance from the submerging liquid, while said liquid is yet substantially at its maximum heat.

6. The herein described process of treating carbonaceous substances, which consists in charring said substance, and simultaneously applying an impregnating material to said substance.

7. The herein described process of treating carbonaceous fibrous substances, which con-- V slsts 1n charrmg sa1d substance, and forcing an impregnating material between the fibers of said substance.

8; The herein described process of treating carbonaceous substances, which consists in charring said substance, simultaneously ap plying an impregnating liquefied solid to said substance, and then allowing said liquefied solid to solidify.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 20 in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

L. GERSFORD HANDRE, NATHALIE THOMPSON. 

